Thread: whats it like to LD

I'll answer what I can

Sleep Paralysis, from my personal experience, doesn't hurt. The best way to describe it, would be as a wave of warmth spreading throughout your body, and heaviness/numbness across your whole body. It does however differ between people so you may experience something completely different.

I haven't had many lucid dreams, but you can do pretty much anything! If you can imagine it, then chances are you can do it in a dream haha

I'm not too sure about what you mean about the world not ending in a lucid dream - if you mean can you stay in a lucid dream forever, then not really. The dream world only lasts until you wake up, but you can 're-enter' a dream after waking (This is actually one of the techniques here on the website for inducing a lucid dream).

I'd also make sure that your dream recall (ability to remember dreams after you wake up) is up to scratch too; it kinda defeats the purpose of having a lucid dream if you don't remember it happening

If you're still looking for more information, there's a huge amount around this website, and I'd also recommend Stephen LaBerge's book, 'Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming'.

I guess all that's left now is to say good luck with your dreaming!

It's hard to describe the feeling. Have you ever been so engrossed in a movie or book or video game that you felt like you were really there? Well, take that feeling one step further so that you really REALLY are there. Time? For the most part, time seems to pass normally. A lucid dream might last from few seconds to as much as 20 minutes or even more. But as in non-lucid dreams, time can sometimes jump or fast-forward like the scenes of movie. So in few minutes of real time, you seem to having an experience that spans longer, like a movie. Can you do anything? You can do anything that your mind allows you to believe. That's a double-edged sword. You can do unreal things if you have the right fantasy and confidence. But your brain can also limit you with your expectations about physics, people's personality, and so on (The Matrix is very relevant here).

So, welcome and good luck. Lucid dreaming can be very fun and fulfilling. MILD is a great way to start. Channel your enthusiasm into creating strong and consistent habits about going to bed, writing in your dream journal, performing reality checks, visualizations, and mantras.

well im not really good at remembering dreams, infact i rarely do. is there a way to help me remember dreams? also ive been wanting to ask this question, how Vivid is the dream. does it feel like you are there, like reality. does it feel like you are actually doing the stuff.

and what i mean by the world never ending, does the world in your dream continue as long as you imagine it? will there ever be a dead end to your journey that you explored? will there be a stop?

The vividness of a lucid dream can vary, just as with normal dreams. I'd say my few lucids were the most vivid dreams I've had though. You experience all the senses that you would in the waking world (touch, taste, smell, as well as sight and hearing).

If you want to remember dreams, the best way to do it would be to keep a dream journal. Keep a journal by your bed whenever you go to sleep, so that you can write them down quickly. The longer you wait after waking, the less you'll remember of a dream, so it's best to remain completely still when you wake, remember as much as you can of the dream(s) and jot them down when you've got everything you can. If I wake up in the middle of the night though, I often find that I can't keep myself awake to write a full page entry of a dream, so I tend to scrawl a couple of key notes and events, which is usually enough to remind me of the dream when I wake up in the morning.

The world would have to end eventually - I mean, you've gotta wake up eventually I can't speak from experience here, my lucid dreams don't tend to last very long, but as far as I know, they last for roughly half an hour to an hour (the length of an REM period), but I've read reports of people saying they've had dreams lasting for what felt like years. And it's not like you'll get stuck in a dream and unable to wake, you can make yourself awake from dreams at will (in the same way that you can force yourself to wake up if you have a nightmare )

Hope that helped a bit more

First of all, you wont consciously be in SP if your not doing a WILD so don't worry about that. Time in lucid dreams is the same as regular dreams, and time in dreams is the same as waking life. You can do anything you like but that comes with learning good control, the first thing you should do in any dream is stabilize it, which is a form of basic control, for that I recommend reading http://www.dreamviews.com/f14/my-tut...ours-ld-94752/
The dream world is yours to explore with complete freedom, it's an amazing thing to be in a lucid dream, the detail, the freedom, the opportunities are endless my friend. As for the world never ending thing, if you mean, can you make it go on for as long as you like, no you can't.

If you have any more questions feel free to post them, I will do my best to help out.

-Good luck!

Edit: I just saw the remembering dreams thing you posted. First of all, a dream journal is a absolute must of your going to lucid dream. Also, upon waking, just lay still, don't thing about anything else except for the question of "What was I just dreaming about?" If nothing comes to you, try to think of places or people that would be in your dreams. Sometimes later in the day something will spark a dream memory for you. For example, one day I was taking a shower, thinking of my girlfriend, then all of a sudden I remembered a dream I had of her the night before which I had not originally remember.

wow, this lucid dreaming thing sounds so interesting! my friend intoduced me to it, at first i didnt believe him but now it seems real. tonight il try out MILD. would MILD be a great way to start? and like you said rynkrt3, i wont get SP if i dont do WILD, does that mean i should avoid the WILD technique?

Originally Posted by blade7115

wow, this lucid dreaming thing sounds so interesting! my friend intoduced me to it, at first i didnt believe him but now it seems real. tonight il try out MILD. would MILD be a great way to start? and like you said rynkrt3, i wont get SP if i dont do WILD, does that mean i should avoid the WILD technique?

Well, to be honest the MILD technique is ok, but I would defiantly start keeping a dream journal by your bed, start doing some reality checks, oh and also, read this http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/consci...method-106652/ it is a great way to help you have DILDs. for the avoiding WILD thing... it's hard for me to say because WILD is my favorite technique, because with some practice, you will be able to have a lucid dream whenever the time presents it self. SP can be scary, but if you just keep in your head that, its all natural, you body does it every night, and you will be just fine, that will help out a lot.

- If you practice the technique in the link I sent you, start keeping a dream journal, and stay motivated, you will start having Lucid dreams in no time at all.
- what I do is practice DILD type things during the day, then every night I try a WILD, this maximizes your chance to become lucid. Almost forgot, an excellent tutorial for WILDing is ---->http://www.dreamviews.com/f12/how-wild-62282/ <-----
-Lol, sorry if my post get a little off topic, just trying to help
-Again, if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask em.

im a noob at this, as you can probably tell. what is DILD, and ive also wondered what REM is. also wondering how long is a SP?

(and thanks for all the links to guides, read them they look really helpful!!)

Ha Ha you need to read the tutorials. The vividness of lucids is sometimes even more vivid that waking life. Don't wory about sleep paralisis its not painful or anything and you won't experience it unless you are doing WILD. In the lucid you can do anything you want and I don't know what you ment by the world never ending.

The first thing you need to do is take a dream journal every day and right down everything you remember. You can't lucid dream without recall. You also need to read the tutorials so that you actualy know what your doing and do reality checks throught the day.

Originally Posted by blade7115

im a noob at this, as you can probably tell. what is DILD, and ive also wondered what REM is. also wondering how long is a SP?

(and thanks for all the links to guides, read them they look really helpful!!)

Hey, I was a noob at one time, and well, I still am in a way lol. A DILD is a Dream Induced Lucid Dream, which means, in the middle of a non-lucid dream, you become lucid and then continue on with your adventure.

- REM is Rapid Eye Movement sleep, this is where your real good dreams occur, the ones before that are just like little clips and are just.. well basically nothing lol. All of your lucid dreams will occur in REM sleep. I am not exactly sure if this is correct, but I think REM occurs after about 4 hours of nREM sleep.
- As for the "how long is a SP" question, that's not quite right, SP or sleep paralysis, occurs in REM sleep so we don't act out our dreams in our sleep... lol funny thoughts of that in my head. When attempting WILDs, you will not always go into SP, but most WILDers do, when you reach SP, the transition of going into the lucid dream can take anywhere from 5 seconds to a few minutes. Be warned though, False awakenings (where you dream you have woken up) are common when doing WILDs.

Edit: http://www.dreamviews.com/wiki/Category:User-Tutorials is where I get all of the links to show you, you should look at them, they are... well, a must if your going to LD.

ohh i was reading some info about Hypnogogic Imagery. apparently people get hallucinations while they are in SP and cant move. sounds really scary, what are the chances of this happening?

and can these false awakenings be scary, or just annoying in some way?

As far as doing anything you want, it's not as easy as one might think. It can be done, but it takes a bit of practice. As far as DILDs go at the least, your logic centers tend to be activated when you gain lucidity. This is a double-edged sword, beause most of the things one tries to do in a lucid dream are things your sense of logic is conditioned to reject. It can take some time to work around this, which is why most people take some practice to get good at using a given ability in dreams.

Originally Posted by blade7115

ohh i was reading some info about Hypnogogic Imagery. apparently people get hallucinations while they are in SP and cant move. sounds really scary, what are the chances of this happening?

The chance of SP occurring when WILDing is almost certain. The hallucinations are acutely little dream snippets . The dream is basically forming while you watch it, I find it very cool. The not being able to move thing, hence the work sleep paralysis will always happen in SP. Like I said, It can be scary, but, just remember that it is all natural, it happens every single night we sleep, and your will be just fine.. oh and also, you will soon be in a lucid dream so that is some motivation to stick it out in SP.

Oh ok, i plan to do MILD for a bit, people say its good for begginers and i dont think i want to go into a SP yet. ill try it when i find the confidence to do it

Originally Posted by blade7115

Oh ok, i plan to do MILD for a bit, people say its good for begginers and i dont think i want to go into a SP yet. ill try it when i find the confidence to do it

Alrighty, good luck with your MILDing

one more question, can you get SP through using MILD?

Originally Posted by blade7115

one more question, can you get SP through using MILD?

Nope, SP occurs when we are in REM sleep, you are never conscious of SP because your asleep. The only time you will feel SP is when attempting a WILD, or for a few seconds when waking up after a dream.

oh k, corect me if im wrong. but mild is basically telling yourself something like "i wil remember my dream", then sleep for a few hours, waking up and then immediately writing you dream down onto a DJ, then go to sleep again.

i dont find this very different from WILD though. how does WILD trigure SP, and MILD doesnt?

Originally Posted by blade7115

oh k, corect me if im wrong. but mild is basically telling yourself something like "i wil remember my dream", then sleep for a few hours, waking up and then immediately writing you dream down onto a DJ, then go to sleep again.

i dont find this very different from WILD though. how does WILD trigure SP, and MILD doesnt?

Yes, MILD is repeating a mantra such as "I will remember my dreams" in your mind over and over. It has to be the last thought on your mind before you actually fall asleep :p

WILD stands for Wake-Initiated Lucid Dream, which means you are aware during the whole transition, that's why you experience SP. When doing a MILD you fall asleep and are unconcious when SP occurs.

oh ok, i want to stay with MILD. ive heard som terrifying stories about SP. i dont want to do anything like tht. wud MILD be an ideal way of entering a lucid dream?

Time for a quick overview.

WILD stands for Wake-Induced Lucid Dream. It is a term for the act of transitioning directly from the waking state to the dream state without losing awareness. Thus, you are aware of the transition, which you usually are not.

MILD is quite different. It is not simply repeating a sentence to yourself, as many people think. It's more setting a mindset...if you want a good description of it, the best is in EWOLD - straight from the man who created the technique. I highly reccomend you take a look at the bit on MILD, it's a great technique if you do it right.

Oh, one more thing, sleep paralysis isn't that bad. I know the sort of stories you're talking about; they are extreme cases and I would be surprised if most weren't at least a little embellished. Many people experience only minor hypnagogic hallucinations.

would you say that mild is beter then wild? i dont want to experience SP period.
and is it frightening entering a lucid dream for the first time? i feel kind of scard because its something ive never done before.

Originally Posted by blade7115

would you say that mild is beter then wild? i dont want to experience SP period.
and is it frightening entering a lucid dream for the first time? i feel kind of scard because its something ive never done before.

WILD is hard to master at first but once you do you could basically have a LD every night. But you should stay with MILD's and DILD's for now .

There is absolutely nothing to fear about entering a lucid for the first time. It's your own mind, your world, you are a god so to speak, your rules.
"The only fear is fear itself" meaning if you fear that something bad will happen or someone scary will come and kill you it might happen because you expect it to happen. So just stay positive and remember it's your world!